comScore: Opening Day, Mother's Day Boost Traffic

The start of the Major League Baseball season gave 11.2 million Web surfers reason to visit MLB.com in April, leading to a 63 percent month-over-month jump in traffic--the largest of any ranked "Ad Focus" entity--comScore reported Wednesday. Also in April, the National Football League Draft gave NFL Internet Group sites a 13 percent boost, and an 18 percent increase in page views over the 2004 Draft, according to comScore's Media Metrix monthly analysis.

Apparently, no one forgot Mother's Day this year, as jewelry, luxury goods, and accessories ranked as the top-gaining category in April with a 19 percent increase in unique visitors over March.

comScore e-commerce research also found that online spending in the jewelry and watches category reached $24.6 million for the week ending April 24, and then increased 13 percent to $27.8 million for the week ending May 1, just one week before Mother's Day.

Music downloading sites also saw significant traffic in April, which comScore attributed to extraordinary holiday sales of Apple's iPod digital music player. Traffic to MP3.com rose 51 percent following an extensive campaign to promote its music store and assure customers that its music was compatible with the iPod. RealNetworks, which announced a product update for its Rhapsody music subscription service, also generated significant traffic.

Another segment that attracted noteworthy traffic numbers was the career services, training, and education category, with 8.1 million unique visitors. This was due to both high school and college graduates making plans for the future, comScore reasoned. CollegeBoard.com, which offers information on member universities and administers the SAT and Advanced Placement programs, led all other sites in this category with 2.2 million visitors in April, an 18 percent increase over March. FastWeb drew two million visitors in April, and PrincetonReview.com saw an 18 percent rise in visitation during the month.